University of North Carolina Athletics
Brewer: 1930 Maryland Game Was Showcase For Johnny Branch
November 2, 2007 | Football
Nov. 2, 2007
CAROLINES
by Rick Brewer
It wasn't the most exciting game Kenan Stadium has ever seen, one decided in the final moments or a stunning upset.
But, North Carolina's 28-21 win over Maryland in 1930 still ranks as an especially memorable one. As much as any other, it was a showcase for the unique talents of the Tar Heels' Johnny Branch.
Only 5-6 and with his weight fluctuating between 150 and 165 pounds during the season, Branch was a giant on the football field. He may have been small in stature, but Branch was nevertheless a powerful runner. He had thick legs and it was that powerful lower torso which made him so hard for defenders to handle.
He was a complete all-around player, excelling as a kicker, passer, receiver and runner. While he wasn't particularly big, he also was a tenacious blocker. With such a low center of gravity he could hit defenders, stay on his feet and neutralize his opponent.
But, it was his skill at returning kicks for which he gained his greatest notoriety. He rates with Charlie Justice as the greatest return specialist in school history. Some who saw both play said Branch was an even more dangerous threat than Justice. However, records are incomplete from those days so it is impossible to totally compile his career statistics. Plus, the game was played differently in each of those eras. Comparing either with someone today, like Brandon Taste, is similarly unfair
Still, in his time, Branch was one of the best. He had some of the longest plays ever by a Tar Heel. He was elusive with great field vision. He would head toward a defender, throw a hip in one direction and cut the other way. Like all great return artists, he had an ability to find a seam where one seemingly did not exist. But, sometimes if defenders got in his way when he was going full speed he simply bowled them over and kept going.
Branch starred on Carolina teams from 1929 to 1931. He was on the 1929 "Team of a Million Backs." Carolina Coach Chuck Collins rotated so many backs in and out of the lineup that even Branch didn't see extensive action. But he did have a 60-yard punt return and caught a 60-yard touchdown pass, showing the ability that would make him a star the following year.
Collins had played at Notre Dame and was an end on the 1924 Irish national championship team. He was one of the "Seven Mules" for the famous "Four Horsemen." He had been an assistant at Chattanooga in 1925 before taking the Carolina job the following year.
"Collins was ahead of his time and could see things on the field no one else noticed," said Chuck Erickson years later. Erickson was one of the backs on that 1929 team and later the Tar Heel director of athletics.
"He expected his players to pick up things quickly and when they didn't, he didn't have any patience with them.
"He was the first coach I saw use defensive slants. He used the spring to prepare for the following season, with what we now call `scout teams' running the plays of opponents."
He got many of his ideas from Knute Rockne, his college coach. He called himself "a black sheep" in Rockne's herd of players and coaches.
"I was the only one that Rockne didn't get a coaching job for," Collins told people. "Maybe he didn't think I was coaching material. Everybody else got a job through Rockne. I asked Rock about it and he said `You go into business...sell frozen fish or something.'"
That simply made Collins more determined to be a coach.
After opening the 1930 season with wins over Wake Forest and VPI, Collins' team faced 1-1 Maryland. This was a Terp team that would finish 7-4.
The game was highlighted by big plays, but marred by turnovers.
A Tar Heel fumble on the second play of the day set up a quick Maryland touchdown. After three fumbles and an interception, Carolina's Pete Wyrick ran a punt back 75 yards to the Maryland 10. But, an interception killed the threat.
Jim Magner later threw 40 yards down the right sideline to Branch, who had just entered the game, for a touchdown. Each team scored again before halftime.
In the third quarter Branch threw a 45-yard pass to Magner for a go-ahead touchdown. Maryland came right back with an 88-yard drive to tie the score.
Early in the final period the Terps tried to back Carolina deep in its own territory. Branch fielded a punt on his own four-yard line and raced 96 yards for the winning touchdown. This still stands as the longest punt return in school history.
The action was so frantic that the points were hung on the Maryland side of the scoreboard until screaming fans got things corrected.
Branch later pinned Maryland on its own five-yard line with a 50-yard punt. His kicking, passing, receiving and kick returns were the keys to the win.
This type of performance was typical of his career. In addition to the 96-yard play against Maryland, Branch had punt returns at Carolina of 85, 68, 63 and 60 yards. In Kenan Stadium's earliest years, he was its most dynamic star.
